The Cat's Match
by TehYellowKitsune
Summary: The trio has a new bounty on their hands...But as it turns out, she's more of a challenge than they ever anticipated, and so begins a wild journey to catch a notorious thief!
1. The Hunger and The Bounty

Train Heartnet sighed, his stomach now emitting a rather low growl at a steady pace. The entire group had not eaten in three days, and the former assassin was absolutely starved.

"Sveeeeeeeeeeeeeen," Train moaned. "I'm so...Hungry...Going...To die..."

Sven Vollified looked to his left angrily. "Shut up Train, I told you we can't spend_ any _of our gas money on food. Besides, once we catch this latest bounty we'll have enough to last us days.

Train's head popped up, an excited expression on his face at the mention of food. "Really? Who's the bounty and how much?"

Sven rummaged in his pocket for a moment before handing a piece of paper to Train. "Read for yourself hotshot..." Train's eyes moved up and down on the paper for a moment, his eyes widening with every second. Upon finishing reading, he lowered the paper and looked at Sven as if he was a mad man.

"Tawny huh... What the hell Sven? She's a teenager...About Kyoko's age. She doesn't look like anyone worth 1.5 million." He said, frowning deeply.

"Ahh, but if you'd have read the details you'd see just what the bounty is for," He said, taking the paper from Train and clearing his throat. "She's wanted for over 20 cases of robbery. There's been no sweeper who can get her though because she always manages to put them to sleep...And when they wake up, they have no idea what happened prior."

Train's eyes narrowed and he did not speak as they drove on to the city where their bounty was awaiting them. It was a short time later that Eve suddenly spoke from the backseat, surprising the two men.

"I believe our target practices the Flying Needles technique ." She said, putting a bookmark into her book and laying it down on her lap. Train and Sven both looked back at her curiously. "I know this because of the fact she did not kill her targets...Merely left them unconcious. The Flying Needles technique is specifically designed to not kill their targets..."

"How do you know all of that Princess?" Train asked, his eyes wide open. Eve shook her head slowly.

"Because I _read _Train. You should consider trying it sometime."

Train and Sven looked at eachother nervously. This bounty did not sound fun at all...But their stomachs prevented any debate about it.

**So, chapter one...I like the way this sounds, and hopefully I'm gonna STICK to it. :3 AND TAWNY, tell me whatchu think. x3 Also, the next chapter will be much longer...I didn't make this one too long because I wanted to get a feel for it and do some more planning with how I'm gonna handle it all. I'll update very soon though. ^_^**


	2. A Determined Girl: Eve vs Tawny

**Chapter two. (: Hope you all enjoy!**

Sven sat silently at a bar, drinking slowly from his cup and thinking to himself. Two days had passed since they arrived in this town, looking for this bounty that would ensure all of his debts gone. _And they hadn't found a damn thing._

He shut his eyes and groaned silently as his stomach roared at him for food. Train's luck wasn't much better either – He'd been prowling around day and night, checking out all sources of information to no avail. It was like this Tawny didn't exist...At least to them.

Eve had been told rather sternly by Sven that she wasn't allowed to help on this bounty, worrying about her safety, much to her secret annoyance. She knew she could be a great help if Sven only _trusted _her. So, when Sven and Train had headed out, Eve had simply walked out of the small hotel room they had rented. Now she was walking around the city, tailing their current target through the mass crowds of people. Eve considered herself extremely lucky – She had seen her coming out of an ice cream shop, oddly enough, and it seemed she hadn't noticed the small blonde as she walked right past her ever-staring eyes. Now it seemed Eve was being led to her hideout, on the eastern most section of town.

As she turned into a seedy apartment building, Eve stopped and hid herself behind a car before allowing herself to consider the situation. She was alone, on the doorstep of a criminal who had taken out professionals and rooms full of thugs armed to the teeth.

"Should I go back and look for Train or Sven?..." She asked herself unwarily.

"Nonsense! Those two are always underestimating you, and it's high time they show you the respect you deserve!" An angry voice shouted at her in her mind.

"But she's very dangerous and-"

"Get going!" The voice said again. Eve hesitated before running as carefully as she could to the front door that Tawny had disappeared into and paused, her breathing becoming slightly more pronounced, before she remembered that direct confrontation was something that should be avoided at all costs, under any circumstance, according to Sven. As such, Eve decided the best course of action was the most peaceful – She smoothed her dress down, composed herself, and knocked on the door three times.

"Yeah! One minute!" Tawny's voice rang from inside. Eve wondered what she could be doing so soon after reaching home, but the answer came in the form of her opening the front door, a rather large bowl of ice cream cradled in her hands.

"Huh? You here selling girl scout cookies or something?" She asked, a slight undertone of annoyance to her voice. Eve noticed she didn't have the air or appearance of a ruthless criminal at all – Quite contrary, she seemed rather delicate.

"You are...Tawny, correct?" Eve asked.

"Yup, that's me. And who are you?" She asked, taking a bite of the ice cream while looking down at her. Eve was slightly surprised by her behavior and didn't reply for a minute, causing Tawny to tap her foot irritably.

"Look, if you're selling something, better tell me what it is because I've got a show on in my living room." She said, annoyance now clear in her voice.

"You have a three million dollar bounty on your head." Eve said, finally remembering what she was here for. "I'm here to arrest you."

The two girls stared at eachother a moment before Tawny stepped to the side. "Come inside for me, will ya?"

Eve hesitated momentarily before stepping over the threshold and into the apartment, noticing it was rather well kept despite it's outward appearance. But another thing was bothering Eve...Why was she inviting someone who wanted to arrest her into her home?

She looked around the place. Many pictures of scenery hung on the walls, and a cartoon was running loudly in the living room. It wasn't anything at all like what she had been expecting.

"So, you're a sweeper huh? Nice to see some girls for a change, all I've had are big ugly bastards with guns for the past week, barging straight in without even knocking. Can you imagine?" Tawny said, seating herself in a chair in front of a table. "Come and sit, please."

Eve sat herself on the chair opposite and stared at her a moment before asking the question that had been on her mind since she had first entered this strange place. "Why are you being so kind to me, if I am going to arrest you?"

"Huh? Oh, well, I figure it's better to at least be polite, even to someone who wants to bring you in." she said between mouthfuls of ice cream. "No one has manners anymore, y'know?"

Eve didn't react at all to this, but merely continued staring. She got up and looked at Tawny blankly. "It is time for you to go to jail, so that I can collect my bounty."

Tawny didn't respond, but merely kept eating, though her eyes were locked onto Eve. They both stared at eachother a moment longer, before what looked like a large needle suddenly popped into existence on the wall behind her.

"Sorry but...I've got things to do, people to see, places to be, y'know?" She said casually, getting up out of her chair. "Can't let you nab me just yet, little sweeper."

She reached down by her leg and came back up, three large needles in her hands. She grinned at Eve, who was backing away slowly.

"Flying Needle technique..." She muttered to herself as Tawny began walking forward, absentmindedly scraping the three weapons together like knives. "Counter-attacking it requires perfect timing and defense..."

"Worried, blondie? You've never actually battled someone who's a master of their trade." She said, smiling still, which somehow managed to lighten the situation to Eve. "The usual tricks for defeating one of us won't work on me...I've crossed that bridge." She raised her left hand, but brought it back down slowly. "Lets see how well you do."

Almost the same moment she uttered those words, Eve, on instinct, transformed one of her pig-tails into a large fist and thrust it in front of her body just as she saw the light reflect off the point of a needle. It stuck into her hair and would not budge, no matter how hard Eve pulled at it.

"Huh, well what do you know, it didn't pierce your hair." Tawny mused to herself more than anything, continuing to pace forward. Eve backed up more, only to reach the wall after a few small steps. She silently cursed and faced her opponent, determination on her face.

"These needles won't come out of your skin unless you use a specific technique to pull them out." Tawny said, pausing when she was less than a foot from Eve. "It is, under normal circumstances, impossible...But you're not normal. I might actually have to try."

Eve grunted and ran to the right as two more needles embedded themselves into the wall. She ran into the living room, grabbing and flipping the couch behind her as she did so, followed closely by Tawny.

"If I don't attack soon I'm as good as dead..." She said to herself, as she hopped across the room, barely dodging the nearly innumerable needles now flying at her. "I can't keep dodging forever..."

Tawny stopped for a moment, seemingly taunting her. "Nice dodging there, you must've been trained by someone real good to be able to do all the stuff you did..." She pulled out a rather bulky needle from the sleeve of her jacket and threw it at Eve, who dodged it yet again, noticing that unlike the others, this one actually went straight through the wall.

"You're out of weapons now, I suggest you give up." She said, turning her hand into an axe and pointing it menacingly at her. Tawny simply smiled and pointed the wall.

"I'd watch your back if I were you, blondie." She said, smirking. Eve turned around and heard a loud humming, followed by the wall apparently exploding as the needle flew out, coming straight for her.

She stepped to the right but collapsed on her knees, feeling an inexplicable weakness come over her body. "What happened?" She hissed as pain began searing through her right arm. She opened one watery eye and looked to see that her arm had been barely grazed by it, but apparently enough to cause severe damage.

"Tracking needle." She said, twirling it between her fingers as she looked down at Eve. "Coated in a poison that burns everything down to the smallest nerve. You'll pass out from the pain in a few minutes." She grinned and let her arms fall loosely by her sides, the needle still emitting a faint humming sound. "What do you think, blondie?"

Eve looked up at her bounty, disappointed with herself she couldn't beat someone who looked so uncharacteristic for her reputation. But she wasn't about to give up the fight yet – If she was going down, her bounty was coming with her. She struggled to her feet, wincing in pain as she gripped her arm a little too tightly.

"You might be fast..." Eve coughed and stumbled as she walked to Tawny, her face set in stone. "...But you have one big weakness."

"What are you -" Tawny began, but Eve had had enough. She used her remaining energy to form her pig-tails once again into two fists, which she proceeded to smash the floor of the apartment with. As they both fell, Eve felt the last of her energy leave her, but smiled all the same. She might not have won, but she had definitely assured Train a meal at the very least...

Somewhere in the city, Train sneezed and watched curiously as a few police cars sped by. "I wonder where they're going..." He wondered outloud.

**Ahh, I feel much better. :3 Are Eve and Tawny actually still _living?_ And how long before Train and Sven find out Eve needs them? The answers shall come soon. (: And thank you to those who reviewed, really appreciate it!**


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